Two Belgian engineers just launched a Kickstarter campaign to create the world’s safest drone. It is called Fleye and has a one-of-a-kind spherical, soccer ball design and enclosed propeller which makes it safe, easy to navigate and suited for use close to people and indoors.
Unlike popular quadcopters, Fleye’s robust frame allows users to hold, touch, push and walk into the drone without any risk of injury. Fleye is controlled by an iOS or Android smartphone application and can fly autonomously in the absence of GPS, so users can fully focus on capturing images and videos without requiring any piloting skills.
Fleye cofounder, experienced engineer Laurent Eschenauer, said: “Although drones are increasingly becoming a part of everyday life, the lack of safety standards and regulations in the industry are still the elephant in the room. We realised that the classic drone design has many shortcomings and decided to go back to the drawing board to create Fleye, the next-generation drone that can exist in perfect harmony with people.”
Founded in Belgium in late 2014, Fleye is supported by a team of 5 R&D experts and engineers and has already received €600,000 in backing from Belgian investment fund The Faktory and public subsidies. With its Kickstarter campaign, Fleye aims to raise an additional €175,000 to cover the manufacturing costs of bringing its drone to market.
Fleye sees early tech adopters, developers, hobbyists, consumers and industrial executives as its key go-to-market audiences. In the future, the Fleye team aims to build autonomous flying machines that will be a helpful and integrated part of people’s everyday lives.
Ar you interested in getting your personal flying robot? The Kickstarter campaign will run until 15 January 2016. Within just a few hours, they already raised over €35.000. Check out their campaign video for more info:
